Yet again this year, Spain is dominating Europe. Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid are in the Champions League semifinals, giving Spain two of the final four for the sixth straight year.
Meanwhile, Sevilla and Villarreal are in the semifinals of the Europa League; Sevilla is gunning for a third consecutive title in Europe's second-tier championship, and either team could give Spain its fifth Europa League title in seven years.
Barcelona and Real Madrid's successes can be explained by citing their financial advantages, with both ranking annually among the world's richest clubs. It's harder to understand, though, why teams such as Sevilla and Villarreal seem to brush aside the rest of Europe so easily, or why Atletico Madrid can take a payroll less than half of the Big Two's and annually compete for the La Liga title.
At the core, it seems to come down to a league structure that is built to develop young players into solid professionals.
Much has been made of the Spanish youth development system, especially the club academies, such as the famous La Masia academy at Barcelona. There, youngsters learn the Barcelona way of playing soccer, and spend their time working on technical skills and playing small-sided games, rather than trying to win endless full-sided games against other clubs.
Less is made, though, of a league system that is designed to take those skillful young players and test them with games against senior teams. The reserve teams of La Liga's clubs are allowed to play separately within the Spanish soccer league system, and most of the "B" and "C" sides of the big clubs are in the third and fourth division.
As a consequence, young players at Spanish clubs are playing games for keeps, while similar-aged players in other countries are struggling at the highest level or going out on loan to teams in other leagues, away from the home club. Minneapolis native Mukwelle Akale, who is in Villarreal's youth academy, played this season for the team's Under-19 team. Were he in America, he'd be playing college soccer; were he in England, he might be a candidate to be loaned to a lower-division team. In Spain, he is hoping for a chance with Villarreal C, in the fourth division, or even Villarreal B, in the third. He'll stay with the club, but have a chance to play against other senior teams — a boon for his development.
Spain also has a less egalitarian distribution of revenue than most European leagues, which helps reinforce the richest teams — allowing them to supplement this development system, perhaps the best in the world, with plenty of other superstars. Put all the pieces together, and it's been enough to turn Spain's best clubs into an all-conquering European force, a position that the country seems unlikely to relinquish soon.
